Now that Michele Bachmann Has Invented a Tea Party Caucus, Many Republicans Must Actually Join It

Yesterday, the House approved the creation of the Tea Party caucus, the brainchild of Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN). “It was something we were doing on our own,” she said of the decision to form the caucus without alerting Republican leadership first. Congressional Republicans are now in the doubly awkward position of either signing on to the caucus whose (possibly unwelcome) creation took them by surprise, or refusing to do so, perhaps alienating tea-soaked constituents in the process. According to Politico, “[u]ntil now, they have had the luxury of enjoying the benefits of tea party enthusiasm without having to actually declare membership. But now that Bachmann has brought the tea party inside the Capitol, House Republican leaders and rank-and-file members may have to choose whether to join the institutionalized movement.” Mike Pence (R-IN) has enthusiastically pledged his support, while minority whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have so far declined to indicate their decisions either way. House majority leader John Boehner has abstained from linking his tangerine-tinged hand with that of Bachmann and Pence. The Washington Post reports that “happily for Boehner,” he had previously announced that he wouldn’t be joining any caucuses. In any event, surely we can all reap bipartisan enjoyment from observing as the movement’s less intellectually rigorous advocates attempt to spell “caucus” on protest paraphernalia.

See also: “Grizzly Women,” a slide show of Sarah Palin’s so-called Mama Grizzlies.